RPA for Manufacturing Industry

It’s the era of the fourth industrial revolution and Industry 4.0 that gave birth to the elegant term “smart factory” and RPA is one of the most sought after technology of the era.

How did Robotic Process Automation (RPA) become so effective and entailing?

The booming revolution in the manufacturing industry that has rewritten all manners of success in a very short time bears the answer. The interlacing of information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) has really made this transformation a reality. It is indeed a shift from the age-old methods to new process backed with technology. A process that is interconnected to accommodate all the stipulations arising from the changing demographics of the manufacturing industry.

Robots are not new to the manufacturing industry as they have already seen the skill power of physical robots in their hard labor demanding process such as assemblage, test and package of their products. Even though the assembly line was brought under control by these robots, the back office operation still struggles to maintain the required facility to keep the wagon moving. Manufacturers are having a hard time in managing repetitive and time-consuming tasks that come under customer communication, procurement, inventory management and payment processing. In addition to this, the manufacturers struggle to keep up with the fluctuating regulations and compliance measures in waste management, finance, health and safety. It is at this juncture where the industry needed innovative ideas to continue its operations and focus in cost reduction. RPA came in handy for the manufacturers as it provided agile streamlined operations with a distinct reduction in cost.

The need for a technology upgrade with RPA is the necessity of the hour as there are many companies who attained the digital maturity and showcased an acceleration in their backend process with RPA. The manufacturers were able to rectify their inadequacies in their process and achieve better control of the business. Manufactures could leverage all the benefits of automation in all their processes from inventory management to resource management and customer compliance and embrace a visible improvement in their revenue within less time. The inclusion of RPA into the process of manufacturing will minimize the repetitive tasks that are swamped on employees.

Benefits of RPA

RPA is the force that dissolves the complexity of processes in manufacturing and it reduces the whole thing into one single box that can be administered by very few resources, only to generate accurate results. There are many apparent benefits of RPA for manufacturing, such as:

24/7 virtual workforce

100% Business user manageable

100% adaptable

Zero agent assistance required after initial implementation

Zero Manual errors

Reduces operational costs up to 65%

Increases the pace of operations and cuts down the processing time up to 80%

Complete Data Capture

Excellent Efficiency

Quality output

Areas of RPA Application

With so many vivid advantages, the functional application of RPA into various operational areas in manufacturing has the capacity to revolutionize the way the industry works. Let’s look at some of such areas:

Industrial Administration

RPA can easily complement the overall activities in administration from process initiation to production and overall functions in the manufacturing industry. The inclusion of RPA makes the administration activities accountable, transparent and easy.

Customer care

RPA in customer service can improve the methods of support and feedback by subtly incorporating the various front office systems for effective communication. RPA helps in the proper channeling and data accumulation for the swift handling of customer complaints. With RPA, the support is going to be quick, responsive and accurate.

Bill of Materials (BoM)

Bill of Materials is the document referred by manufacturers to get the list of raw materials, products and sub-products for the purpose of producing new ones. The document gives a clear idea about the whole dynamics of purchase and a small error could result in big losses for the manufacturers. This is one of the key areas where RPA can infuse its magic on, by using RPA, manufacturers get a clear idea about the products which results in better production within less time and cost.

Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is unavoidable for the current industry standards. RPA is the right choice in inducing transformation in the manufacturing industry. RPA helps in the Digitization of paperwork and data migration with pitch point accuracy, security and ease of transition. With web integrated RPA connecting different system across the branches of manufacturing industry, the communication for access, update, monitor and edit between the systems become a lot faster.

Transport and delivery

RPA can potentially reduce the hassle associated with logistics in the manufacturing industry. It can bring in transparency in the transportation of products with exact tracking of products. RPA supported system can assure an enhanced service to the customers as it could share the exact status of the transportation keeping the customers under constant communication.

Conclusion

The methods of RPA can reinvent the process of the manufacturing industry as expected from the technologies introduced in industry 4.0 that could transform any factory into a smart factory. Along with RPA, just like any other modern industry, the manufacturing industry will travel to the heights of better production, better compliance, better transaction and overall better business.